We've never had the room for one before, but hopefully with the move to the new venue there'll be an appropriate space for a cloak room :D

Would security be a problem? it would be great if there were onsite lockers or something to hire? they are pretty secure throughout the day as well :D

I would love a cloak room. When I came this year, I joined a car of people from Canberra, and I was staying overnight so I had a backpack. When we got to Sydney, I went in to SMASH!, then popped out to the hotel I was staying to drop the backpack off - and in the 15 minutes or so between the time I entered and the time I went out, they hit the occupancy limit, so if I'd gone to the hotel first I wouldn't have made it in. Even knowing that the venue will be big enough for everyone next year, if I end up doing the same thing then it would be a lot more convenient to be able to drop the backpack off at a cloak room.

I think when people say 'cloakroom' they may mean one of two things:

1. cloakroom for cosplayers; and
2. cloakroom for everyone.

The former seems like a no-brainer but I'm interested in the potential for the latter. The concerns are space, personnel and liability but all are probably things that can be solved with enough planning.

@Mike: A cloak room for cosplayers is the same as a cloakroom for everyone.
Props are taken to the props storage(separate from the cloakroom) regardless of whether there is a cloakroom or not, and we're able to also store fragile costume stuff for the comp if the cosplayer desires.
So anything else a cosplayer would need stored (bags etc) would be stored in the cloakroom.

guys, why dont you take a leaf out of animaina's book, and have all the props in a comp, chuck in some prizes ,and only let them out only for the cosplay comp or pics in a set zone so they dont go walkabout's. there you go. that just solves 3 major issues of smash, you get rid of having people with props being carryed around the con, unchecked and being ruined, you can keep tabs on what props are inside the con and last but not least, cosplays can win some bouns prizes @ the same time as the main cosplay comp.

Animania doesn't have props storage at all, they have the prop comp and charge money for any other props to be stored in their cloakroom. Not all props brought to animania go in the competition, the props need to be preregistered and handmade. This means all other props are charged to be put into storage. Having a competition doesn't magically stop the problem of people bringing props to the venue. It also doesn't eliminate the sneaky people carrying dangerous props around the convention either, as an attendee I've seen it because people didn't want to have to pay to have their prop stored.


I prefer having a free props storage service so that we can store props and other cosplay items in terms with our prop rules. The way we currently run it stores all props from being carried around the convention (some may slip past but that is an issue encountered at any convention and nothing can solve that other than vigilance from attendees and staff), protects the props, and returns them for competition time.

Cosplay prop storage isn't an issue, what we're discussing here is having a general cloakroom for attendees. This is an idea I highly support if smash has the room for it and logistics can be worked out.

@Glorfindel Ah, my bad. I didn't appreciate the props/cloakroom distinction. Agreed about free props service.

@matt I like the idea of a prop competition. Something to think about.

guys, i had said to take a leaf out of animaina's book of tricks, not rip off the whole idea. i would hate to see people pay for the use of a cloak room (unless it is a clause in a agreement between smash and the venue). also have it a mandory rule that props are to be stored in the comp or have them taken off them if A) there way too big, or B) they will not put them in the comp. its a cut and dry way of doing it. but a wider issue is uniform rules @ con on props (but thats a diffent idea for a diffent time).

I don't really see what point you're making regarding props. There isn't a problem with the way things are currently run, there are uniform rules (check the code of conduct and cosplay comp rules), the only issue regarding props is what I mentioned above, vigilance - which is both a job of staff and attendees. The majority of props are checked but some do slip past, most are caught up on it however. It isn't an issue.

The prop storage is completely separate to the cloakroom and the two should henceforth not be discussed together as they are two completely separate services/areas.

like i said, its a differnt topic of a differnt time.